


And Death Smiled Upon Me

by heyystiles



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Canon Rewrite, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-02
Updated: 2016-03-02
Packaged: 2018-05-24 06:52:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6145222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heyystiles/pseuds/heyystiles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A reimagining of the first chapter and a half of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins--- but from Prim's point of view.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And Death Smiled Upon Me

I wake up with a jolt. The heat from my mother’s side is too warm--- almost hot, and I sit up, instantly chilled at the thought that crosses my mind. _The reaping._ It’s today.

I almost forgot. I almost kept sleeping...like an idiot. _How embarrassing._

_Pull it together, Prim._ Buttercup mewls at my feet. “Thanks,” I sigh and Buttercup blinks slowly as I gently scratch beneath his chin, “I’m gonna need all the luck I can g-get.” My voice falters on the last word and a lump forms in my throat, as the reality of the situation finally sinks in. But wait- my name. It’s only in the pool once. Katniss insisted I take no tesserae. That means I’m as good as safe, _right?_

By the time Katniss returns from her morning hunt, mom and I are already dressed. I must look like a ghost of times past in Katniss’ old clothes. She wore these to her first reaping. She made it this far. I remind myself of the odds. I’m only one name among hundreds- who knows, maybe even thousands.

Taking a deep breath, I hastily attempt to fix the back of the blouse I’m practically swimming in. I can’t even imagine how ridiculous I must look.

Mom pins Katniss’ hair up, much to her dismay.

I can’t help but smile slightly. “You look beautiful,” I remark.

“-and nothing like myself,” Katniss’s tone is defeated, but she pulls me in for a hug anyway. I linger in her arms for a brief moment, seemingly safe from everything bad in the world, if only for a short period of time. Instantly, my mind flashes back to a memory of us long ago. It was raining and we were laughing and splashing in the puddles, and all was good and right in the world. Dad was alive, Mom was in love, Katniss was smiling, we were both laughing, and we were all happy- genuinely happy. But that was years ago.

We separate seconds later, and I feel my blouse come loose again. I groan, frustrated.

“Tuck your tail in, _little duck_ ,” Katniss fixes the blouse for me and I smile in the brief moment of normalcy.

“Quack,” I laugh.

“Quack yourself,” she laughs as well and suddenly my stomach calls out for sustenance as Katniss speaks my inner thoughts, “Come on, let’s eat.”

Breakfast is as bland as ever. Milk from Lady and coarse, burned bread made from the tesserae grain. It’s positively gross--- but it settles my somersaulting stomach for now.

Finally at one, we head for the town square and my nerves flare up once more.

_It can’t be me, It’s not going to be me._ I repeat the mantra as I separate from my mother and Katniss and head to the area containing many other terrified girls my age. I remember years ago, the girl from District Ten. She was only twelve, like me, and the competitors were particularly fierce that year. She died almost seconds into the game from a knife to the chest. It was horrific, and I swallow hard as the memory stirs more nerves in my stomach.

The atmosphere is tense and ghostly and I shiver in anticipation.

Two of the three chairs on the stage in front of me are immediately occupied by Mayor Undersee, and the most brightly colored woman I’ve ever had the misfortune to witness. It’s Effie, our District’s Capitol representative. Her too bright hair is almost difficult to look at and I glance down at my feet briefly as the mayor approaches the mic.

We’ve all heard this speech before. The history of Panem, the uprising, _blah, blah, blah._

_Please just draw the names already._ The nerves continue to build in my stomach and I exhale slowly, worried I’ll throw up the meager breakfast I consumed only hours ago.

“It’s both a time for repentance and a time for thanks,” Mayor Undersee’s voice breaks me out of my anxiety filled reverie as he begins to read a list of all the past Victors of District Twelve.

It’s a short list. Only two names have ever had the honor to grace its ranks.

Ironically enough, one of the Victors and the occupant of the third chair stumbles on stage moments later.

The audience applauds. It’s Haymitch Abernathy.

I wrinkle my nose in disgust at his appearance. He’s clearly drunk and appears to not have showered in several weeks. Suddenly, I’m glad I’m so far from the stage. I imagine Haymitch’s scent is much more pungent up close. I’ve never met him before, and I’m glad I haven’t--- but that might change in the next few minutes.

Of course, in Haymitch’s inebriated and confused state, he attempts to hug Effie, and she weakly attempts to fight his advances.

Mayor Undersee visibly cringes at the sight before him. The reapings are televised, so of course District Twelve will be the laughingstock of Panem. He quickly introduces Effie in hopes to get the show on the road and divert the attention from Haymitch, to the two brand new tributes.

Effie approaches the podium with unbridled glee, “Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be _ever_ in your favor!” Her voice is strange, the Capitol accent foreign and fake. For the next minute or so, she proceeds to do nothing but talk up District Twelve.

Everyone knows that she actually hates the fact that she was assigned to us.

Personally, I used to think it was amusing. Now it’s just offensive. District Twelve is better than this. _Effie doesn’t deserve to be here._

My thoughts drift from the square suddenly, and I ponder what it would be like to move away. To live in another district. To live in the Capitol! How different would our lives be, if we had only been born elsewhere. Perhaps my mom could’ve become a doctor! Katniss could’ve attended school, maybe trained in a skilled trade and gotten a real job--- maybe working as a hostess in a fancy restaurant. I chuckle.

_Katniss--- a hostess._ The thought continues to float around my mind as my subconscious tries to keep me from focusing on the situation at hand.

“Ladies first!” Effie’s voice pokes and prods it’s way past my mental defense as she reaches a gloved hand into the large glass ball containing mine and Katniss’ fates.

Her fingers latch onto a slip of paper and I hold my breath as the entire town square goes dead silent. Effie returns to the podium, smoothes out the paper, and speaks, a smile plastered to her too white face.

The name that crosses her lips doesn’t immediately register in my mind.

It sounds like a foreign language. I think back to the name again and for a brief moment my mind can’t fully understand the combination of letters that Effie just uttered. Were they even letters? My mind isn’t making sense of the sounds around me. I shake my head briefly, trying to clear my ears of whatever’s preventing me from focusing, when suddenly I remember the name.

I’ve never heard this name before, _have I? Who was it again?_ I can’t remember anymore.

I blink slowly, my pulse pounding in my ears. _Who was the poor soul to be condemned to suffer such an awful, horrific fate?_

But suddenly, hundreds of pairs of eyes are trained on my face and my heart immediately drops to my stomach.

_It’s me._

\----------

I immediately tense up as the crowd begins murmuring around me. My limbs lock for a brief moment and I can practically feel the blood drain from my face.

I’ve got to start walking, or else the Peacekeepers will usher me to the stage by any means necessary.

My heart still feels as though it has stopped beating inside my chest.

I clench my hands at my sides to keep my fingers from trembling as I shuffle toward the stage like a criminal condemned to the gallows. This is it. My life ended as soon as Effie plucked my name from the glass ball. Every happy memory I’ve ever made suddenly fades from my being, I’m gone- _I’m dead._

Suddenly, bringing me back to the land of the living, I feel my blouse become untucked once more and I reach back to fix-

_“Prim!”_ The strangled cry that graces the airwaves is none other than my sister’s and I spin around immediately.

_Katniss!_ I can’t remember if my voice actually makes a sound in the brief moment following this new revelation.

She reaches me in seconds just as my foot is inches from the first step leading up to the stage. Katniss quickly wraps an arm around me, shoving me gently behind her and the two words I never hoped I’d hear come out of her mouth, instantaneously spill from her lips, _“I volunteer!”_

The phrase is so short, yet so fatal.

Her tone is pained, but mildly relieved, probably to know that whatever fate I had just been condemned to suffer, has now been passed on to her.

_“I volunteer as tribute!”_ She shouts it a second time, and suddenly her future is written in stone and my limbs feel like lead.

_I- It was me. And now it’s her._

I was reaped, by Death himself.

And now Death’s cold unforgiving hand has latched onto my sister, satisfied with the exchange of tributes, and probably elated by the thought of the bloodbath soon to come.

My chest feels heavy and I let out a short broken sob, _Katniss- what have you done…_

My sister, my only sister, is now being taken from me much in the same way I was taken from her only moments ago. She’s saved my life, but taken her own in the same breath. I’m frozen in my spot, when suddenly the Peacekeepers arrive to collect me, tear me away from the last crimson thread tying me to Katniss. They grab me, and I scream. Katniss stands stock-still. I scream again, raw emotion tearing through my throat--- and the thread snaps.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! This was actually for an English paper, but I'm really proud of how it turned out so I figured I'd share it with you guys.


End file.
